Each year in the United States nearly

26,000 babies are stillborn.

Most of these babies are of viable gestational age.

For most the cause is never known.

Stillbirth causes and prevention have not been studied until rather recently. Many, including some health care providers, have commonly assumed that stillbirth can’t be predicted or avoided. However, there are a number of things that can be done to reduce the risk and we are learning more each year. Awareness and education for both the pregnant mothers and health care providers is critical in both prevention and bereavement support.

On the heels of the 2012 International Conference on Stillbirth, SIDS and Infant Survival, the publication of the Lancet series on Stillbirth, and the 2011 International Stillbirth Summit, parents and their families are adamant that attention be given to “the stillbirth epidemic”. The time has come for a multi-year National Campaign for Stillbirth Awareness and Education spearheaded by a coalition of organizations and individuals. Learn more about the campaign goals here.

Will you join us in this National Stillbirth Campaign? By completing the very brief registration here to join the coalition, you are honoring babies who have not taken their first breath and families who cannot adequately speak on their own. And maybe, together we can decrease the numbers of babies who die during pregnancy. There is no obligation to join!

Thank you for your consideration and concern. If you have questions, please contact us at: info@stopstillbirthasap.org or phone 952-715-7731.

I lost my sweet Daniel Zachary on November 3, 1976. He was born still at full term. In the past 38 years, I have listened to mothers and dads tell their heart wrenching stories, and helped them walk thru this terribly dark journey.

I would like to raise awareness around the need for more emotional support for those families going through the after effects of stillbirth. I received a myriad of blessings from the short life I had with my son – my story is one of lack of support after the loss and how it undid me rather than the loss itself. My son was born on his due date in 1995 from a rare genetic disorder. Wishing you much success and blessings on your efforts. I’m grateful.

My granddaughter Ava was stillborn on 9/18/2012. My daughter-in-law went to the doctor the day before and was told everything was ok. She had her pre-op work done and was at the the hospital the next morning and was told the baby didn’t have a heartbeat. In less than 24 hours our world was turned upside down. My son and daughter in law wanted the c section done the week before but due to Obamacare were told they had to wait.
I want to help stop this from happening to someone else.

At 36 weeks pregnant I was given the most terrible news. My daughter had passed away before she made it to this world. That day my world stopped but everyone else’s has kept moving forward. It is so hard to move on not having memories of life. My only bonding was during my pregnancy and no one will ever know my baby girl like I did.
Awareness also should go beyond helping mothers and fathers heal after experiencing a stillbirth. When I left the hospital I left with scraps of paper that have her foot prints. Personally I think the hospital could have made those few little keepsakes a little more thoughtful or commemorative. The biggest slap to the face was receiving her death certificate and the doctor signed it without putting her name but instead just put “Baby Girl”. She has a name and they knew what it is. Her name is Addison Claire.

H Jennifer, your post resonated with me because the certificate for our son, only had “baby boy” on it, even though the doctors KNEW his name too. His name is Dylan. Our Dylan boy, forever loved and missed. He would be turning 13 years old this coming July. Here are some hugs for your heart, and for anyone who has had their lives tragically changed due to stillbirth. Research, funding and awareness are a must. May they never, ever be forgotten.

so sorry jen for your loss my daughter was 33 weeks she got admitted with high bp from her doc and they had removed the heart monitors from my daughter at 2am there was a heartbeat and by 4am no heartbeat my baby granddaughter was gone my daughter was just like you say same way and the hospital staff was very ignort telling my daughter her baby was gone then min later talking about shifts and weekend plans i feel this never should have happened the doc said it was a chord injury but no knots were found the chord they thought was wrapped her ankle they brought in the placenta so we could see it it didnt help us understand anything i still think because my daughter was having a csection anyway for her delivery they should have taken the baby that night when she got their she was high risk and the hopital knew she ivf to get pregnant

I lost my Daughter, Sophia Evonne at birth on June 24, 2010 due to being stillborn . There is not a day that has gone by that I do not think of my sweet baby. When this happened I felt so alone and had no where to turn to; I think it is so very important to educate people and have more help out there for the family’s that need some direction.

We lost our first baby, our daughter Kaitlyn Masumi on 4/18/2008. I had just seen the doctor 3 days prior. I was already 39 weeks and 3 days. I remember asking the doctor if I could be induced now. I was advanced maternal age, had gestational diabetes and she was measuring 41 weeks size. I had been doing stress test which she was doing well but with all my risk I just wondered why I couldn’t be induced. Especially since I was so uncomfortable. He said we will re-evaluate on Frinday when I was 40 weeks. Continue my kick counts and watch my blood sugar level. I did carefully. Well I went in, they began my stress test like normal and then our world stopped. She had no heartbeat. I was in shock. I was expecting for them to say walk over to labor and delivery to be induced, not walk over to say goodbye to my baby. I know every one says not to blame yourself. But should I have insisted 3 days prior? Wasn’t I already high risk for still birth??? Everything I read after the fact said “yes”. But my doctors kept insisting there was no indication on my stress test to move forward. But wait, all my risk. Then why when I became pregnant again did they watch me like a hawk and then schedule my c-section at 37 weeks 5 days? I kept asking all the doctors to please look at women with my risk factors and please reconsider NOT keeping them pregnant past 39 weeks. My daughter was perfect, our gift. She had nothing wrong except she was a big girl. Almost 9 pounds. PLEASE make the doctors reconsider their birth plans when all the risk are stairing you in the face. I pray no other women ever has to feel the horrible pain we did having to say goodbye to our daughter. We had our second child our son who even at 37 weeks 5 days was 7 1/2 lbs. He knows he has a sister in heaven but is it my fault she is not here to be with him. I want more attention to reasons of still birth and prevent it again.

Wow, as I was reading your message I thought I was looking into a mirror. Same thing happened to me recently. May 3,2013 my precious daughter Savannah J Bose was born still @ 40 weeks. Because of my age while pregnant I had been closely watched, passed all screenings and test while doctors told me every visit “everything looks good”. I had taken my prenatal vitamins everyday (never missing or skipping a day), Lord knows how I hate taken pills but I’d do anything for the price of my child. A child I awaited for forty years because I was told my chances were slim due to lack of periods and so on. So when I found out to my surprise I was pregnant (three months), I truly believed she was a “Blessing from God”. Savannah was to bring me Joy, and that Joy is no longer. I was coming through this pregnancy as a single mother, but was preparing to love, guide, and protect her as if she had both parents in her life. I had built enough love over forty years awaiting the day I gave birth to my first born child. That day I was told my daughter stop breathing, I didn’t know I had went into Shock. So much shock that I now remember nothing about my first birthing experience, nor holding Savannah in my arms (only by stories of family/friends that were there).
I too want to promote Awareness/Prevention, support those parent/families that have also experienced the loss of an infant due to Stillbirth.

sorry for your loss my daughter was 33 weeks was admited for bp it being to high she was high rish with turner syndrome and having ivf to get pregnant her feet wer swollen but when tested they were okay they shut monitors off at 2am by 4am no heartbeat we were devastated she had asked them the night before to have her csection a few weeks early because that was the way she was going to deliver but when she insisted they wouldnt do it said the baby is better off in mother for as long as possible so my grandaughter was gone my daughter totally heartbroken its a cry a mother never wants to hear from their daughter i will never forget it when i got the phonecall i wish the hospital would do what the patient ask cause i honestly feel my granddaughter would be alive they said it was a chord injury

I lost my Jadelyn 02/01/2006. She coul hsve been saved had the doctor listen to my concerns two weeks prior to my last visit. She already knew I was high risk. On January 31, 2006 when I went for my 2 week check up my Jadelyn didn’t have a heartbeat. It also turned out my placenta had detached. This is the first time I ever write about this in public.

We lost our precious Abby in 2006. I watched in horror as our children were overcome in grief and not joy. As grandparents we were affected because we never would watch that little girl grow into a beautiful woman, but the affects this had on Abby’s big brother and the rest of us were devastating. This movie is long overdue. Thank you for drawing attention to an unpleasant reality of life that is lived by to many of us. People need a tool about how to respond to the families in this kind of pain.

I lost my son to stillbirth at 8 months 2 years and 6 months ago. I live in Kentucky and there’s really nothing here to raise awareness so I started my own, http://www.mykelsangels.org. I’m willing to learn and travel to help bring more awareness home because it’s too taboo here!!

We lost our granddaughter Emily Christine on June 28, 2013. We were so excited and happy that Olivia would have a baby sister. But I guess it was not to be. More needs to be done to help everyone deal with these tragic losses. To prevent them if possible. The hurt never goes away.

we lost our baby boy on Jul 6 2013 . I was so happy to have him i wish i have words to say the only thing i do is cry missing his kik my stillbor child was 26 weeks 2 days always Love U & Miss U DAVID RICE

My son & daughter-in-law just lost their firstborn daughter Sloane on Sunday. Her Doctor noticed the babies heartrate had dropped from her regular 160/150 down to 120 on Wed but told my daughter-in-law it was normal as the baby drops into the birth canal. Thinking the Doctor knew what she was talking about my daughter-in-law didn’t get overly concerned. On Thurs the heartbeat stopped altogether. If the Doctor would have ordered an ultrasound on Wed (this was a borderline high risk pregnancy), theres a huge chance it would have been discovered that the cord was around her neck and an emergency c-section could have saved her life.

I lost my daughter on January 2, 1978. She would be 36 years old now. Eventually you do look forward to waking up every day and you do move forward but a piece of your heart is gone and will never be the same. I was lucky to have another daughter who is 25 but I have not forgotten my angel who watches over us!

When I lost my first baby back in 1977, the doctors would not do a D&C. They made me deliver the miscarriage naturally. So, to add insult to injury, for two weeks, I stayed home and bleed. I was told it was “God’s way of cleaning me out”. The things people said to me were unreal — it’s God’s way of getting rid of bad seeds (really, God never asked me); you are young, you will have another one; you’ll get over this, it wasn’t that long – 16 weeks — and on and on and on. When I reflect on these comments, I realize that I was probably the first person most people met that ever suffered a miscarriage. My grandmother gave birth to 8 boys and they all lived. My mother had five children. That being said, I should just have a baby. I had nightmares and woke in the night screaming that I was flushing my baby down the toilet. For fear of going to the bathroom, I ended up with a bladder infection. People told me I had to snap out of it. I thought I was doing better, but then, totally lost it on what would have been my due date. I thank my lucky stars for my dear friend who called my doctor and told him what I was going through. He called me and had a very long, encouraging talk with me. He also let on that Linda was pregnant and needed me to be on her journey. I will bring this story present, lost two babies and finally had a fabulous 9lb 11 oz baby girl, Rachel. She is joy and soul of my life. My only gift to humanity. It was during that pregnancy that doctors finally figured out that my uterus was twisted and tilted back. Rachel had to be manually pushed into place. We made it and she is as she refers to herself my “only, oldest child”. It seems that natural miscarriages end up tearing your uterus. I was told mine looked like someone took a rake to it and therefore nothing could attach. I guess I was another science experiment gone wrong.

From these experiences, I am now so careful about what I say to anyone who has shared a loss. We need to talk with professionals who are spooked by our feelings or afraid they are going to catch what we had. When you finally realize it was not the cup of coffee you had or the way you lifted the mattress to make the bed that caused the miscarriage, that you can begin the slow process of mourning. I know I was having a son and I know he cradled with my loved ones in heaven. I wish I had this immediate support and follow-up. It would have made my pregnancy so much more enjoyable rather than stressful. I remember accusing the doctor of putting in a pre-recorded tape for her heartbeat.

God Bless you and this work you are doing on behalf of all women. I remember thinking that women were giving birth in the fields and returning back to work, why couldn’t I deliver a baby and bring it home to loving and comfortable environment. I could not wrap my head around it. Your work will let women know they are not alone or being punished. Hopefully, it will make doctors really listen to women who understand their bodies.

We lost are little girl AngelGrace we called her at 37 weeks of this month on the 3rd of May 2014 it was a shock we was hurt and mad cause we told the doctors that notthing was rite with this pregnancy …. Wat makes me mad its there is notthing out there bout stillbirth and thay should be we need 2 unite 2gether for are little angels fight to get the information out there

our Sarah Elizabeth, at 28 weeks gestation, received her wings on 12/11/1973 and she was born sleeping on 12/14/1973 due to Rh incompatibility. The doctor should have started treatment, in utero blood transfusion. Even after all of these years my husband and I are grieving.

I have also experienced stillbirth 3 times and i believe all was doctors ignorance.this is the most painful experience any woman can wish to go through.i am a kenyan and i would like to start stillbirth awareness in kenya.kindly help me how to do it.

I lost my daughter, Rosie, only 3 weeks ago, and also believe it to be a result of doctor ignorance. We tried for 7 years for her, and finally got our miracle baby, and the little girl I’d always wished and prayed for. At 20 weeks, barely old enough to be classed as stillborn, but still very much a perfectly formed miniature baby, I saw a bulge and we raced to the ER. They said I was rapidly dilating and the amniotic sac was bulging, and there’s nothing they could do to save her. I tried desperately, anyway, lying on my head all night and on constant Magnesium to hold off contractions, but by the next day, I’d fully dilated and there was nothing they could do but break the water and deliver her, although she was still very much alive and kicking like crazy. It absolutely shattered my heart feeling her moving, but knowing she’d be gone in the next hour or so and there was nothing I could do to stop it. After an excruciating natural delivery, which she didn’t survive…there’s no words to describe how wrong it is for a mother to have to hold her dead baby. My OB said she had no way of knowing there was anything wrong, but at my first appointment, at 6 weeks, her assistant noted that I had a very thin, fragile cervix. When I brought that up to the dr, she had to go through her notes like she didn’t even know about that. I also had diabetes, Type 2 and gestational, which put me at higher risk. Plus, after that 6 week exam, which was really just a pap smear, I never once had another physical exam at all, and never had another ultrasound there, only an elective elsewhere and the NT and 19 week anatomy scan done at another location. They never checked back up on the cervix. I just know that if I had had the cerclage, and they had done regular exams and cervical ultrasounds, she could have been saved.

Upcoming Events

RETURN TO ZERO - Plan to watch Return to Zero on Lifetime TV, May 17th - www.returntozerothemovie.com
STILLBIRTH SUMMIT 2014 - Join 25 researchers from around the world as we discuss current and emerging ideas in the prevention of stillbirth as well as support for grieving families. www.starlegacyfoundation.org